Daily Star, Dhaka
March 7, 2013
Protect Hindus, AI
urges Bangladesh
Star Online Report
(Destroyed Deity)
This March 5 photo shows
vandalised idols in a Hindu temple in Singra upazila of Natore.
In the wake of a wave of
violent attacks against the country’s minority Hindu community, Amnesty
International has made an urgent call to the government to provide them with
better protection.
Over the past week,
individuals taking part in strikes called for by Islamic parties have
vandalised more than 40 Hindu temples across Bangladesh. Scores of shops and
houses belonging to the Hindu community have also been burned down, leaving
hundreds of people homeless, said a press release of the international rights
watchdog.
“The Hindu community in
Bangladesh is at extreme risk, in particular at such a tense time in the
country. It is shocking that they appear to be targeted simply for their
religion. The authorities must ensure that they receive the protection they
need,” said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Bangladesh Researcher.
“All political parties
in Bangladesh should condemn strongly any violence against the Hindu community,
and to instruct all their members and supporters not to take part in such
attacks.”
Survivors told Amnesty
International that the attackers were taking part in rallies organised by the
opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Jamaat has publicly
denied any involvement in violence against the Hindu community.
The latest attack took
place on Wednesday in Daudkandi in southeastern district of Comilla, where a
Hindu temple was vandalised and burnt down.
One survivor told
Amnesty International that on February 28, his family’s village of Rajganj
Bazar in the southeastern Noakhali district was set on fire by people taking
part in a Jamaat-organised strike.
“They moved into our
properties and set fire to 30 of our houses. Seventy-six families were living
in these houses. They also set fire to our temples – all are now vanished,” the
survivor said, who asked to remain anonymous out of concerns for his safety.
He said the authorities
have provided temporary accommodation to the affected families, who had lost
almost all their belongings to theft or destruction in the violence.
Another survivor said
that on March 2, a group of about 100 young men holding banners in support of
Jamaat looted and damaged four shops in Satkania near Chittagong and vandalised
a Hindu temple in the village.
Bangladesh’s Hindu
minority makes up only eight percent of the population, and has historically
been at risk of violence from the Muslim population—including during the
independence war in 1971, and after elections in 2001.
“Given the obvious risks
the Hindu minority faces in Bangladesh, these attacks were sadly predictable.
We urge the authorities to take note of the violence and act to prevent further
attacks,” said Faiz.
Tensions have been
running high in Bangladesh in recent weeks as JI and its student wing have
called strikes and mass protests against the ICT, which has found some of its
senior members guilty for crimes committed during the 1971 war.
Protesters have also
been involved in violent clashes with police, who have used tear gas, rubber
bullets or live ammunition against them. At least 60 people have been killed,
mostly by police fire, but among the dead are also several policemen.
“While there are
credible reports that police firing may have followed violent attacks against
them by protesters, police use of excessive force cannot be discounted”, Faiz
said.
